Semiconductor probe with high resolution resistive tip and method of fabricating the same

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor probe with a high-resolution tip and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor probe includes: a cantilever doped with a first impurity; a resistive convex portion projecting from an end portion of the cantilever and lightly doped with a second impurity opposite in polarity to the first impurity; and first and second electrode regions formed on either side of the resistive convex portion and heavily doped with the second impurity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/482,690, filed Jul.10, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2005-0081996, filed on Sep. 3, 2005, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate toa semiconductor probe with a high resolution resistive tip and a methodof fabricating the same, and more particularly, a semiconductor probewith a convex high-resolution tip, which has a diameter less than 100nm, and a method of fabricating the semiconductor probe.

2. Description of the Related Art

As compact devices such as mobile communication terminals and electronicpocket notes become more popular, the demand for micro integratednonvolatile recording media increases. It is not easy to miniaturizeexisting hard disks or to provide highly integrated flash memories.Therefore, information storage devices using scanning probe microscopy(SPM) have been studied as an alternative.

Probes are used in various SPM devices. For example, probes are used fora scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that detects current produced whena voltage is applied between a probe and a sample to reproduceinformation, an atomic force microscope (AFM) that uses an atomic forcebetween a probe and a sample, a magnetic force microscope (MFM) thatuses an interactive force between a magnetic field produced by a sampleand a magnetized probe, a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM)that overcomes a resolution limitation due to the wavelength of visiblelight, and an electrostatic force microscope (EFM) that uses anelectrostatic force between a sample and a probe.

In order to record and reproduce information at high speed and highdensity using the techniques of such SPM, a surface charge in a smallarea with a diameter of several tens of nanometers should be detected.Also, cantilevers should be arranged in an array to increase recordingand reproduction speeds.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional cantilever 70 onwhich a resistive tip 30 is formed disclosed in International PatentPublication No. WO 03/096409. The resistive tip 30 is perpendicular tothe cantilever 70 and has a resistive region 36 with a diameter ofseveral tens of nanometers. The cantilever 70 can be fabricated in theform of an array.

Referring to FIG. 1, the resistive tip 30 of the semiconductor probeincludes a body 38 doped with a first impurity, the resistive region 36disposed at a peak of the tip 30 and lightly doped with a secondimpurity, and first and second semiconductor electrode regions 32 and 34formed on inclined surfaces of the tip 30 and heavily doped with thesecond impurity. The resistive region 36 is disposed between ends of thefirst and second semiconductor electrode regions 32 and 34.

However, the conventional semiconductor probe with the resistive tip 30has a disadvantage in that the first and second semiconductor electroderegions 32 and 34 formed on the inclined surfaces of the resistive tip30 are excessively wet-etched during a process of forming the resistivetip 30, thereby reducing the areas of the heavily doped inclinedsurfaces. Conductive areas on the inclined surfaces are accordinglyreduced, thereby degrading the spatial resolution of the resistiveregion 36. Also, the probe may be damaged when ions are implanted at ahigh energy of 300 keV in the fabricating process. Further, the probemay be damaged when a thermal diffusion process, that is, an annealingprocess, is performed at a temperature of 1000° C. for a long time,e.g., 12 hours. In addition, a thermal oxidation process is performed ata temperature of 1000° C. under an oxygen atmosphere for 30 to 40minutes to sharpen the resistive tip 30.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a semiconductor probe with ahigh-resolution resistive tip.

The present invention provides a method of fabricating a semiconductorprobe with a high-resolution resistive tip through low-energy ionimplantation without an excessive annealing process.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided asemiconductor probe with a high-resolution tip, the semiconductor probecomprising: a cantilever doped with a first impurity; a resistive convexportion projecting from an end portion of the cantilever and lightlydoped with a second impurity opposite in polarity to the first impurity;and first and second electrode regions formed on either side of theresistive convex portion and heavily doped with the second impurity.

The resistive convex portion may have a square pillar shape.

The resistive convex portion may have a width of less than 100 nm.

The resistive convex portion may have a width ranging from 14 to 50 nm.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda semiconductor probe with a high-resolution tip, the semiconductorprobe comprising: a cantilever doped with a first impurity; a resistiveconvex portion lightly doped with a second impurity opposite in polarityto the first impurity and projecting from an end portion of thecantilever; and step-shaped first and second electrode regions formed onopposite sides of the resistive convex portion and heavily doped withthe second impurity opposite in polarity to the first impurity.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of fabricating a semiconductor probe with ahigh-resolution tip, the method comprising: forming a stripe-shaped masklayer on a top surface of a substrate that is doped with a firstimpurity; etching the substrate using the mask layer above the substrateas a mask to form a stripe-shaped projection portion in the substrate;heavily doping regions of the substrate, which are not covered by themask layer, with a second impurity opposite in polarity to the firstimpurity; forming a stripe-shaped photoresist on the substrateperpendicular to the projection portion; etching the substrate includingthe projection portion using the photoresist as a mask to form aresistive convex portion with a square pillar shape and first and secondsemiconductor electrode regions on the substrate; and etching a bottomsurface of the substrate to form a cantilever such that the resistiveconvex portion is located at an end portion of the cantilever.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of fabricating a semiconductor probe with ahigh-resolution tip, the method comprising: forming a stripe-shaped masklayer on a top surface of a substrate that is doped with a firstimpurity; etching the substrate using the mask layer as a mask to form astripe-shaped first projection portion; etching the mask layer to reducethe width of the mask layer; heavily doping regions of the substratewhich are not covered by the mask layer with a second impurity oppositein polarity to the first impurity; etching the substrate including thefirst projection portion using the mask layer as a mask to form astripe-shaped second projection portion and a step-shaped substrate;forming a stripe-shaped photoresist perpendicular to the secondprojection portion on the substrate; etching the substrate including thesecond projection portion using the photoresist as a mask to form aresistive convex portion with a square pillar shape and step-shapedfirst and second electrode regions on opposite sides of the resistiveconvex portion; and etching a bottom surface of the substrate to form acantilever such that the resistive convex portion is located at an endportion of the cantilever.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional semiconductor probedisclosed in International Patent Publication No. WO 03/096409;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a tip portion of a semiconductorprobe with a high-resolution tip according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a peak of the tip of the semiconductorprobe of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A through 4H are perspective views illustrating a method offabricating the semiconductor probe with the high-resolution tip of FIG.2 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a probe used in a simulation tomeasure the resolution of a semiconductor probe with a high-resolutiontip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a drain current of the probe of FIG. 5according to a charge variation;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a tip portion of a semiconductorprobe with a high-resolution tip according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 8A through 8E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method offabricating the semiconductor probe with the high-resolution tip of FIG.7 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of theinvention are shown. The thicknesses of layers or regions illustrated inthe drawings are exaggerated for clarity.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a tip portion of a semiconductorprobe with a high-resolution tip according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a resistive convex portion 130 perpendicularlyprojects from an end portion of a cantilever 170 that is doped with afirst impurity. The resistive convex portion 130 may have a squarepillar shape. The resistive convex portion 130 is a resistive region 136lightly doped with a second impurity opposite in polarity to the firstimpurity. A first electrode region 132 and a second electrode region 134heavily doped with the second impurity are formed on both sides of theresistive convex portion 130. A resistive region 136 including theresistive convex portion 130 between the first and second electroderegions 132 and 134 may be doped in a process of implanting ions intothe first and second electrode regions 132 and 134. The first impuritymay be a p-type impurity and the second impurity may be an n-typeimpurity.

The width W of the resistive convex portion 130 may be equal to thewidth of a mask during a fabricating process. For example, if the widthW of the resistive convex portion 130 is 100 nm, ions can be implantedat a low energy of 10 keV to form the first and second electrode regions132 and 134, thereby preventing the semiconductor probe from beingdamaged during the ion implantation. Also, since the first and secondelectrode regions 132 and 134, which act as conductors, are formed onboth sides of the resistive convex portion 130, the resolution of theresistive convex portion 130 is not reduced, leading to an increase inthe resolution of the semiconductor probe.

The width W of the resistive convex portion 130 may be less than 100 nmto ensure high resolution, and may range, for example, from 14 to 50 nm.When arsenic is implanted at an energy of 10 keV, it is known that aprojected range, which is a depth at which the implanted arsenic reachesits maximum concentration, is approximately 10 nm, and 30 to 40% of theprojected range is implanted horizontally inside the ion implantationmask. Accordingly, to form the resistive region 136 after the ionimplantation and an activation annealing process, the minimal width ofthe convex portion 130 may be greater than 1.4 times the projectedrange, e.g., 14 nm.

An electric field produced by a surface charge 137 of a recording medium133 (see FIG. 3) is blocked by the regions other than the resistiveconvex portion 130, that is, the conductive first and second electroderegions 132 and 134. Accordingly, the electric field produced by thesurface charge 137 of the recording medium 133 causes the difference inthe resistance of the resistive convex portion 130. The polarity anddensity of the surface charge 137 can be accurately detected from thisdifference in the resistance.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the peak of the resistive tip of thesemiconductor probe of FIG. 2.

The operation of the semiconductor probe with the high-resolutionresistive tip will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, even if the depletion region 138 of the resistiveconvex portion 130 does not expand to the first and second semiconductorelectrode regions 132 and 134, the area of the resistive region 136 isreduced by the depletion region 138, which is a non-conductor, therebyvarying the resistance of the resistive region 136. Accordingly, thepolarity and density of the surface charge 137 of the recording medium133 can be detected using the variation in the resistance. The depletionregion 138 formed in the resistive region 136 is extended toward thefirst and second semiconductor electrode regions 132 and 134 due to anelectric field produced by the negative surface charge 137. Since theresistive convex portion 130 is separated from the electrode regions 132and 134 that act as conductors, the spatial resolution of the resistiveconvex portion 130 is improved.

FIGS. 4A through 4H are perspective views illustrating a method offabricating the semiconductor probe with the high-resolution tip of FIG.2 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4A, a mask layer 333, such as a silicon oxide layer ora silicon nitride layer, is formed on a silicon substrate 331 doped witha first impurity, a photoresist 335 is coated on the mask layer 333, anda stripe-shaped mask 338 is disposed over the photoresist 335.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the resultant structure is exposed, developed, andetched to form a stripe-shaped mask layer 333 a on the substrate 331.The width of the mask layer 333 maybe less than 100 nm. For example, thewidth of the mask layer may range from 14 to 50 nm.

Referring to FIG. 4C, the substrate 331 is dry etched to a depth of lessthan 100 nm from the mask layer 333 a. A stripe-shaped projectionportion 337 is formed on the substrate 331.

Referring to FIG. 4D, the resultant structure is heavily doped with asecond impurity using the mask layer 333 a as a mask to form first andsecond semiconductor electrode regions 332 and 334. At this time, ionscan be implanted at a low energy of approximately 10 keV since the firstand second electrode regions 332 and 334 formed on both sides of theresistive convex portion will not be etched, and thus can be formed tohave low depths. Also, since the width of the mask layer 333 a isnarrow, a resistive region 336 can be easily formed between the firstand second semiconductor electrode regions 332 and 334 through ionimplantation and a short thermal diffusion process. The resistivity ofthe first and second semiconductor electrode regions 332 and 334 issufficiently low that they can serve as conductors. Next, the mask layer333 a is removed, and a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) is performed onthe substrate 331 to activate the implanted ions. The RTA process isperformed at a temperature of 1000° C. for several minutes.

Referring to FIG. 4E, a photoresist 339 is coated on a top surface ofthe substrate 331, and a stripe-shaped photomask 340 is disposed overthe photoresist 339, perpendicular to the etched mask layer 333 a.

Referring to FIG. 4F, the photoresist 339 is exposed, developed, andetched to form a photoresist layer 339 a with the same shape as thephotomask 340.

Referring to FIG. 4G, the projection portion 337 is etched using thestripe-shaped photoresist layer 339 a as a mask to form a resistiveconvex portion 337 a. The substrate 331 not covered by the photoresistlayer 339 a is etched.

Referring to FIG. 4H, the photoresist layer 339 a is removed from thesubstrate 331 to form the resistive convex portion 337 a with a squarepillar shape on the substrate 331. The first and second semiconductorelectrode regions 332 and 334 are formed on opposite sides of theresistive convex portion 337 a.

Next, a bottom surface of the substrate 331 is etched to form acantilever (not shown) so that the resistive convex portion 337 a isdisposed at an end portion of the cantilever. Electronic pads (notshown) are respectively connected to the first and second semiconductorelectrode regions 332 and 334. This cantilever forming process is wellknown, and thus a detailed description thereof will not be given.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a probe used in a simulation tomeasure the resolution of a semiconductor probe with a high-resolutiontip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.6 is a graph illustrating a drain current of the probe of FIG. 5according to a charge variation.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, source and drain electrodes 432 and 434 wereformed on either side of a convex portion 430, and floating gateelectrodes 440 were formed above the convex portion 430. Referring toFIG. 6, voltages of +0.2 V and −0.2V were alternately applied to thefloating gate electrodes 440 as the width WI of the convex portion 430and the width W2 between adjacent floating gate electrodes 440 werechanged. A drain current of the convex portion 430 was measured as thefloating gate electrodes 440 were moved in a direction indicated by anarrow A. Referring to FIG. 6, when the width W1 of the convex portion430 was 50 nm and the width W2 between the adjacent floating gateelectrodes 440 was 50 nm, the resolution was 50 nm. Whereas when thewidth W1 of the convex portion 430 was 30 nm and the width W2 betweenthe adjacent flowing gate electrodes 440 was 50 nm, the resolution was20 nm. Accordingly, the convex portion 430 according to the presentexemplary embodiment is superior in resolution to a conventionalresistive tip of a probe which has a resolution of hundreds ofnanometers. This is because the width of the convex portion 430 is onlytens of nanometers and the conductors are disposed on either side of theconvex portion 430.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a tip portion of a semiconductorprobe with a high-resolution tip according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a resistive convex portion 530 projects from an endportion of a cantilever 570 that is doped with a first impurity.Step-shaped first and second electrode regions 532 and 534 heavily dopedwith a second impurity are formed on either side of the resistive convexportion 530. A resistive region 536 lightly doped with the secondimpurity is formed between the first and second semiconductor electroderegions 532 and 534. The resistive region 536 may be formed during ionimplantation. The first impurity may be a p-type impurity and the secondimpurity may be an n-type impurity.

The width W of a peak of the resistive convex portion 530 may be equalto the width of a mask used in a fabricating process. If the width W ofthe resistive convex portion 530 is 50 nm, ions can be implanted at alow energy of 10 keV to form the first and second semiconductorelectrode regions 532 and 534, thereby preventing the probe from beingdamaged during the ion implantation. Also, since both sides of theresistive convex portion 530 and the first and second semiconductorelectrode regions 532 and 534 are heavily doped conductive regions, theresolution of the resistive region 536 formed at the peak of theresistive convex portion 530 is not reduced, thereby increasing theresolution of the probe. The electrode regions 532 and 534 and bothsides of the resistive convex portion 530 block an electric fieldproduced by the surface charge 137 of the recording medium 133 (see FIG.3) from affecting the first and second semiconductor electrode regions532 and 534. Accordingly, the electric field produced by the surfacecharge 137 of the recording medium 133 causes a difference in aresistance of the resistive convex portion 530. The polarity and densityof the surface charge 137 can be accurately detected from thisdifference in the resistance.

The resistive convex portion 530 projecting from the cantilever 570illustrated in FIG. 7 may have a greater height than the resistiveconvex portion 130 illustrated in FIG. 2. Accordingly, a distancebetween the recording medium 133 and the first and second semiconductorelectrode regions 532 and 534 increases, and thus the influence of arecording medium charge on other regions than the resistive region 536is reduced to increase resolution.

FIGS. 8A through 8E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method offabricating the semiconductor probe with the high-resolution tip of FIG.7 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8A, a stripe-shaped mask layer 633 is formed on asilicon substrate 631 doped with a first impurity.

Referring to FIG. 8B, the substrate 631 is dry etched using the masklayer 633 as a mask to form a stripe-shaped first projection portion637.

Referring to FIG. 8C, the mask layer 633 is etched for a predeterminedperiod of time to reduce the width of the mask layer 633. The width ofthe mask layer 633 may be reduced by half.

Referring to FIG. 8D, a second impurity is heavily doped into theresultant structure using the mask layer 633 as a mask. At this time,ions can be implanted at a low energy of 10 keV. Since the width of themask layer 633 is narrow, a resistive region 636 can be easily formedbetween heavily doped regions 632 and 634 during the ion implantation.Next, an RTA process is performed on the substrate 631 to activate theimplanted ions. The RTA process is performed at a temperature of 1000°C. for several minutes.

Referring to FIG. 8E, the substrate 631 is dry etched from the masklayer 633, such that a stripe-shaped second projection portion 638 andthe step-shaped heavily doped regions 632 and 634 are formed. Next, themask layer 633 is removed, and the second projection portion 638 isetched to have a square pillar shape, thereby completing the resistiveconvex portion 130 (see FIG. 2). An explanation of subsequent processeswill not be given as those processes are the same as the processes ofFIGS. 4E through 4H.

As described above, since conductive regions are formed on both sides ofthe resistive convex portion that is formed at the peak of the resistivetip, the resolution of the resistive convex portion can be enhanced.Also, since the resistive convex portion has a diameter of several tensof nanometers, the resolution of the probe can be enhanced.

Furthermore, since ions are implanted at a low energy, damage to theprobe can be prevented. Moreover, since a time consuming ion diffusionprocess which is difficult to control is not required, a desired probecan be easily fabricated.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

1. A method of fabricating a semiconductor probe with a high-resolutiontip, the method comprising: forming a stripe-shaped mask layer on a topsurface of a substrate which is doped with a first impurity; etching thesubstrate using the mask layer above the substrate as a mask to form astripe-shaped projection portion on the substrate; doping a region ofthe substrate, which is not covered by the mask layer, with a secondimpurity opposite in polarity to the first impurity; forming astripe-shaped photoresist on the substrate perpendicular to theprojection portion; etching the substrate including the projectionportion using the photoresist as a mask to form a resistive convexportion with a square pillar shape and first and second electroderegions on the substrate; wherein the first and second electrode regionsare formed substantially horizontally, and the resistive convex portionis substantially vertically protruded with respect to the first andsecond electrode regions; and etching a bottom surface of the substrateto form a cantilever such that the resistive convex portion is locatedat an end portion of the cantilever.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe doping of the region of the substrate, which is not covered by themask layer, with the second impurity comprises doping the projectionportion between the first and second electrode regions with the secondimpurity, wherein the projection portion is doped lighter than the firstand second electrode regions.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein, whenthe doping of the region of the substrate, which is not covered by themask layer, with the second impurity comprises implanting ions into thesubstrate at an energy of 10 keV or less.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein the doping of the region of the substrate, which is not coveredby the mask layer, with the second impurity comprises performing a rapidthermal annealing (RTA) on the substrate.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the mask layer has a width of less than 100 nm.
 6. A method offabricating a semiconductor probe with a high-resolution tip, the methodcomprising: forming a stripe-shaped mask layer on a top surface of asubstrate which is doped with a first impurity; etching the substrateusing the mask layer as a mask to form a stripe-shaped first projectionportion; etching the mask layer to reduce the width of the mask layer;doping a region of the substrate, which is not covered by the masklayer, with a second impurity opposite in polarity to the firstimpurity; etching the substrate including the first projection portionusing the mask layer as a mask to form a stripe-shaped second projectionportion, thereby forming a step-shaped substrate; forming astripe-shaped photoresist perpendicular to the second projection portionon the step-shaped substrate; etching the substrate including the secondprojection portion using the photoresist as a mask to form a resistiveconvex portion with a square pillar shape and step-shaped first andsecond electrode regions on opposite sides of the resistive convexportion, wherein the resistive convex portion is substantiallyvertically protruded with respect to the first and second electroderegions; and etching a bottom surface of the substrate to form acantilever such that the resistive convex portion is located at an endportion of the cantilever.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the dopingof the regions of the substrate, which is not covered by the mask layer,with the second impurity comprises doping under the mask layer, whereina portion under the mask layer is doped lighter than the step-shapedfirst and second electrode regions.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein,when the doping of the regions of the substrate, which is not covered bythe mask layer, with the second impurity comprises implanting ions intothe substrate at an energy of 10 keV or less.
 9. The method of claim 7,wherein the doping of the regions of the substrate, which is not coveredby the mask layer, with the second impurity comprises a rapid thermalannealing (RTA) on the substrate.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein theetching of the mask layer to reduce the width of the mask layercomprises etching the mask layer such that the mask layer has a widthless than 100 nm.